Energy Concepts
How energy flows is a matter of physics. Specific physical laws are at work when energy is concerned. You do not need to be a physicist to comprehend the basic concepts. You only need to know enough to be able to reduce your utility bill.
The first thing to know is that these laws must always be followed. Any actions you attempt that go against the laws of energy will always fail. For example, energy is not created or destroyed. The energy for your home must come from an energy source. Sometimes this energy source is not obvious, it may be invisible like solar energy or concealed in a battery.
Take a little time to learn about energy concepts and you will be much more successful at saving energy and reducing your utility expenses.
What is energy?
Energy is defined as the ability to do work. A nontechnical description of work is changing the state of something. For example, mechanical work can move a car or electrical work can turn on a light bulb. Sometimes the change of state is noticeable like motion or it gets hotter. Sometime it is not easily noticed like an increase in pressure. When work occurs, then energy is transferred. Energy transfer is the concept that affects your utility bill the most.
These are natural processes. For example, heat always flows hot to cold. You go out on a cold
day you will naturally lose body heat. We can use this to our advantage. You can cool down you drink by placing ice cubes in the glass. Energy is transferred from the drink to melt the ice cubes. This in turn cools your drink. The process is natural but we made it possible by placing a cold solid in a warm liquid.
These physical processes, like heat flow, will always occur, but we can radically slow them down. Insulation is an example of slowing down the natural flow from hot to cold. Or we can speed up the process. A fire is a rapid chemical reaction which releases a great amount of heat. We can combine the proper materials and ignite them to maintain a controlled fire.
Mentioned above, energy is not created or destroyed. All we can hope for is to move it or change it into another form. Fortunately energy can be changed from one form to another quite easily. Chemical energy can be released as heat in a fire, or it can be released as electrical energy in a battery. If you know how, you can move energy from one place to another. An air conditioner takes heat from your house and moves the energy outside. Keep reading to find out how energy is moved or transferred.
The philosophical view is that energy is needed to do anything. For our society to advance, energy is needed. This is undeniable. To keep our society going energy is needed but it must be used wisely and effectively. Life is not a sprint where we go all out as fast as possible. Life is a marathon where we must conserve, using only enough energy to maintain the pace.
Go to the next pages to find out how energy is measured, the difference between energy and power, and more detailed description of heat transfer.
